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Evidence-Based Management as a Research/Practice Gap Problem

This is a response I made to a post on the Evidence Soup Blog about the potential demise of EBMmgt
I’ve been think about the health of the movement in response to (Tracy’s) post and I’m still surprised by the lack of EBMgmt discussions and how the movement does not seem to be gaining much traction. I re-looked at the Rousseau – Learmonth and the Van De Van, Johnson – McKelvey discussions for potential reasons why. (both are in Academy of Management vol31 #4, 2006). Here’s my take after reading them: (1) Cognitive, Translation and Synthesis Problems: One, just like the example Rousseau gave in her Presidential Address, there are too many different concerns and issues floating about. We need the field to be more organized so people can get a better cognitive handle on what’s important. Also, I’m not sure peer review is the best strategy. When I did my dissertation, doing something exciting took a back seat to doing something bounded and do-able. I can’t imagine someone whose publishing for tenure doing anything more than incremental and that does not translate well for cognitive translation reasons. We need a synthesis strategy. Possible response – A EBMgmt wiki See my 7-31 post on scientific publishing at howardjohnson.edublogs.org (2) Belief problems – Henry Mintzberg believes that managers are trained by experience and MBA programs should be shut down. (3-26-09 Harvard Business Ideacast) He says that universities are good for that scientific management stuff, but implies that science is only a small part (management’s mostly tacit stuff). All my previously mentioned discussions noted that managers and consultant do not read the scientific literature. Part of the problem is communication (see #1), but part is current management paradigms that include little science. Possible response – Far be it from me to suggest how to deal with paradigm change. (3) Philosophical Problems – If EBMmgt is to succeed, it must be presented as a post-positivist formulation. Taken at face value, it seems positivist; and positivism has been so thoroughly critiqued that I could see where many people would dismiss it out of hand. Part of my thing is trying to be post-positivist, without throwing out the baby with the bath water. Rousseau tries to mollify Learmonth’s concern that touches on this area, she sees some issue, but I don’t see understanding. A positivist outlook will only lead you in circles. Possible response – It’s much like your previous post, you need “both and” thinking, not “either or” thinking. EBMgmt must be an art and a science. This is how I understand the validity issue that I’ve mentioned to you before. I use Messick’s validity as a model for post-positivist science. It’s also important because measurement is the heart of science.
I would love your thoughts